GF: Chocolate & Pecan Butter Toffee
I have discovered a pitfall in my food blog. Maybe more than one. Over a week ago, I discovered a blog by David Lebovitz in my internet-bounce-dance. (Really, I don’t remember how I stumbled across it, but oh, I’m *so* glad I did!)
First let me say this, I really don’t know much about David Lebovitz. In fact, I’d say I know next to nothing. What I do know is that his blog posts have made me burst out in tears from laughter! Oh! He’s funny! And, the devil, he cooks! And makes CHOCOLATELY things! Yes, there is a Santa and a God! =) Really. If you are in need of a good chuckle, please, do read some of his posts. I especially appreciated this most recent one about “catching” water in France.
Any who, while bumping about in internetlandia and on David’s site, I found this recipe for toffee. To heck with the fact that school/work starts tomorrow. To heck with the paper that needs to be typed and printed before 7AM. I’m making toffee and relishing the River Denial into which I have crawled for the remainder of the weekend.
David’s recipe calls for hazelnuts, which despite my love of hazelnuts (or maybe BECAUSE of said adoration); I do not have on hand. I did however have a huge bag of pecans, so they substituted nicely. Truly, this recipe is simple. It took me all of 20-30 minutes to have cooling/completed toffee on the silpat on my countertop. Easy.
Once cool, I cut the huge toffee blob into manageable pieces and of course, taste tested any shapes that I deemed unfit for public eyes. (There are quite of few of these pieces and any that did not conform? Well, I fixed that!) I noticed that my toffee tastes a bit more crystallized than I remember. This only means one glorious thing to me: 🙂 I will have to make this recipe AGAIN and AGAIN until I perfect it! Wahoo!
Anyone know why a toffee might be crystallized a tad bit? Really. I’d like to know where to start my experimentation. I think maybe in my desperation for the candy thermometer to reach 300F; I may have removed the candy at exactly 300. Maybe it needs to boil there a bit? Maybe I removed it at 298F? I don’t know.
If I look out from my floatation device on this lovely River (of Denial about work), I can see my friends and colleagues on the shore. All of whom have surely set up their classrooms, designed a month worth of lesson plans, created seating charts, etc while I have, well, dreamed of doing anything BUT that. There is a shining hope to their presence. They eat – and adore – chocolate. Sweet! People with whom I can share my toffee creations!
My love, who effortlessly adapted to the gluten-free lifestyle along with me, does not eat chocolate or candy. This, while it may not appear to be an issue, really is a problem. Especially when plans are being made to make batches upon batches of toffee goodness until I have it right!
Hmm…Come to think of it. Maybe this will be the perfect thing to get me to shore. Either that or I’m going to sink after eating all the toffee by myself. I’d better get to paddling.
Happy toffee eating to all!
😉